Quagga
E. q. quagga | trinomial = Equus quagga quagga | trinomial_authority = (Boddaert, 1785) |synonyms= *''Hippotigris quagga'' (Hamilton Smith, 1841) *''Hippotigris isabellinus'' (Hamilton Smith, 1841) *''Equus quagga isabellinus'' (Hamilton Smith, 1841) *''Equus quagga lorenzi'' (Lydekker, 1902) *''Equus quagga greyi'' (Lydekker, 1904) *''Equus quagga danielli'' (Pocock, 1904) *''Equus quagga trouessarti'' Camerano, 1908) *''Equus (Quagga) quagga quagga'' (Shortridge, 1934) }} The quagga (Equus quagga quagga) is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africa's Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only. In the mid-section, the stripes faded and the dark, inter-stripe spaces became wider, and the rear parts were a plain brown. The name comes from a Khoikhoi word for zebra and is onomatopoeic, being said to resemble the quagga's call. The only quagga to have been photographed alive was a mare at the Zoological Society of London's Zoo in Regent's Park in 1870. Range and Habitat The quagga lived in the drier parts of South Africa, on grassland. The northern limit seems to have been the Orange River in the west and the Vaal River in the east; the southeastern border may have been the Great Kei River. It was generally hunted for its meat and hide, and is one of the many victims of modern human caused; mass extinctions. Taxonomy The quagga was originally classified as an individual species, Equus quagga, in 1778. Over the next 50 years or so, many other zebras were described by naturalists and explorers. Because of the great variation in coat patterns (no two zebras are alike), taxonomists were left with a great number of described "species", and no easy way to tell which of these were true species, which were subspecies, and which were simply natural variants. Long before this confusion was sorted out, the quagga had been hunted to extinction for meat, hides, and to preserve feed for domesticated stock. The last wild quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, and the last specimen in captivity, a mare, died on August 12, 1883 at the Natura Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam. Because of the confusion between different zebra species, particularly among the general public, the quagga had become extinct before it was realized that it may have been a separate species. The quagga was the first extinct creature to have its DNA studied. Recent genetic research at the Smithsonian Institution has demonstrated that the quagga was, in fact, not a separate species at all, but diverged from the extremely variable plains zebra, Equus burchelli, between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago, and suggests that it should be named Equus burchelli quagga. However, according to the rules of biological nomenclature, where there are two or more alternative names for a single species, the name first used takes priority. As the quagga was described about thirty years earlier than the plains zebra, it appears that the correct terms are E. quagga quagga for the quagga and E. quagga burchelli for the plains zebra, unless "Equus burchelli" is officially declared to be a nomen conservandum. After the very close relationship between the quagga and surviving zebras was discovered, the Quagga Project was started by Reinhold Rau (1932–2006) in South Africa to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from plains zebra stock, with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild. This type of selective breeding is also called breeding back. A foal of the Quagga Project, named Henry, was born on 20 January 2005. In early 2006, the third and fourth generation animals produced by the project were reported to look very much like the depictions and preserved specimens of the quagga. The practice of breeding back generally and specifically whether looks alone are enough to declare that this project has truly recreated the original quagga are both controversial. DNA from mounted specimens was successfully extracted in 1984, but the technology to use recovered DNA for breeding does not yet exist. In addition to skins such as the one held by the Natural History Museum in London, there are 23 known stuffed and mounted quagga throughout the world. A twenty-fourth specimen was destroyed in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad), during World War II. Repopulation A taxidermist by the name of Reinhold Rau thought it might be feasible to rebreed the quagga using living plains zebras by choosing some of the lesser-striped ones," said geneticist Eric Harley. Harley has been a scientific advisor to the group, The Quagga Project, since its inception a quarter-century ago. The project hinges on the idea that the quagga is not a separate species, rather a subspecies of the plains zebra. If so, Harley said, "it means that the genes may still be there in the current living population of plains zebra animals, but in a diluted form. By concentrating them using selective breeding, we can get back animals showing the full appearance of the original quagga." After four generations of breeding, Dr. Harley and his team said they'd done just that. These animals—quaggas 2.0 -- roam the Elandsberg Nature Reserve in South Africa. In the Media *The quagga is an animal that is adoptable in Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals. *A quagga specimen was seen at a Museum exhibit “Extinction is Forever” in an episode of Batman the animated series “Catwalk”. Gallery quagga.jpg quagga 2.jpg Quagga 3.png Quagga.png Western Horse or Western Quagga.jpg db1u5di-f21b095a-4a07-4bc5-8ce1-06af90592316.jpg d5m71z-06e876f8-c35f-41ed-8cfb-e940458280dc.gif quaggas_in_the_savannah_by_louisetheanimator_dcqt5gg.jpg a_quagga_family_by_louisetheanimator_dcqt5eo.jpg quaggas_fighting_by_louisetheanimator_d76axvg.jpg quagga_herd_by_louisetheanimator_d76w2yp.jpg quagga_in_sunset_by_louisetheanimator_d9gvu4f.jpg quagga_by_louisetheanimator_d9gvm60.jpg quagga_spirit_stallion_of_the_cimarron_style_by_louisetheanimator_dcqt5fk.jpg Prehistoric world quagga by daizua123 dad068o.png Cool zt2 pic by 5aq d28nqpe.jpg Wildlife park 3 quagga by kanshinx3 ddfbdf3.jpg Screenshot_2019-10-09-19-20-24.png AEF5EC13-3437-4DF8-A232-E4A4D93D0008.jpeg Category:Mammals Category:Ungulates Category:Odd-toed Ungulates Category:Equids Category:Herbivores Category:Pliocene Mammals Category:Pleistocene Mammals Category:Holocene Mammals Category:Extinct animals of Africa Category:Cenozoic Category:Small Herbivores Category:Prehistoric Life Category:Pliocene animals Category:Pliocene mammals Category:Pleistocene animals Category:Pleistocene mammals Category:Holocene animals Category:Holocene mammals Category:Holocene extinctions Category:Recently Extinct Animals Category:Prehistoric animals of Africa Category:Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals Species Category:Animals extinct due to human activity Category:Mammal extinctions since 1500 Category:Prehistoric Kingdom Category:Horses Category:Perissodactyla